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Chapter 03
A height that must have been at least 188 cm, broad and solid shoulders that looked like they wouldn’t budge even in a strong wind. A straight, lean body beneath them.
His build alone showed off superior genetics, and his face was clearly far from that of an average person.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he looked like he’d walked straight out of a movie screen.
Except his tie was nowhere to be seen and two buttons of his shirt were undone, as if he were deliberately hiding his nobility.
And the refined wildness that came from that was powerful enough that everyone in the hallway instinctively saw him as their leader.
No wonder—when he grabbed her, every gaze in the area had turned toward them.
Is he the head of the security team? Is he going to tell me not to loiter in front of the memorial room?
Startled, Yoo-eul stepped back to put distance between them.
But the man immediately closed the distance. The dangerously narrowed proximity made her blink.
“Extortion.”
“…Sorry?”
Yoo-eul swallowed.
Staring at the man, the half-lost reason she’d had in the funeral home suddenly snapped back.
And she remembered just how much trouble she had caused him earlier.
If I had really gotten seriously hurt or died, wouldn’t I have ruined this man’s life too?
She wanted to apologize right away, but the man’s sharp gaze looking down at her so openly made her lips freeze.
“You wouldn’t be wandering around a funeral home in a mourning outfit cosplay to pull something on me.”
Yoo-eul’s eyebrow twitched.
Only then did she faintly recall what he had said earlier.
“Not the face of someone who extorts people.”
“Who sent you? Planning to drag me down too?”
So basically…
He thought she had staged a self-injury scheme to ruin his life?
What is this man? Now that she thought about it, he looked more like a gang boss than a security chief.
Whatever he was, from his looks to the dangerous aura he gave off just by speaking—he was definitely not normal.
She should stop getting tangled in this, apologize properly, and walk away.
She didn’t even have enough time to mourn her sister’s death.
Wanting to clear the misunderstanding and leave quickly, Yoo-eul told the truth.
“Um… I think there’s been a misunderstanding about extortion or dragging you down. I’m actually in the middle of a family funeral. Earlier was really… I’m truly sorry, sir. I’m not usually the type to cause trouble, but the circumstances—”
“You got my business card?”
He cut her off.
Though flustered, Yoo-eul answered without showing it.
“Business card?”
“I gave one to the flunky with you. Guess he didn’t give it to you.”
…He means Tae-hoon?
Calling someone’s precious friend a flunky?
But Yoo-eul couldn’t protest with those fierce eyes on her.
She had never felt so intimidated by someone’s presence before.
He was simply scary.
Never mind that he was handsome—just being near him made her knees weak.
The intensity pouring from him felt like it could press someone flat.
“I’m meeting your friend tomorrow anyway, so I’ll get it then. So, I’ll be going.”
She tried to leave after bowing, but he grabbed her again, pulling her back in front of him.
With his free hand, the man pulled out his phone and handed it to her.
“Put it in. So I can’t have issues about the accident later.”
Yoo-eul hesitated, then lifted her gaze.
He lazily raised an eyebrow.
“Put it in.”
She swallowed hard and took the phone.
Quickly, she entered her number.
Bowing again, she said,
“…I only put in my number so you’d feel at ease, but I won’t be contacting you. I’m not hurt, and I’m not going to make this into anything, so please don’t worry…”
That was when it happened.
Her phone rang in her pocket.
“Just a moment?”
She stopped speaking and checked the screen.
An unknown number.
Something related to her sister?
She answered.
“Hello?”
—……
“Hello?”
Her voice echoed—like she was hearing her own voice bounce back.
Sensing something was off, she lifted her eyes and tried again.
“Hello? Who is—”
The man in front of her lifted his phone to his ear and murmured,
“Right in front of you.”
Gasp.
“Will you stop this bullshit?”
His next words made Yoo-eul’s face burn hot.
She finally realized he had called her to check whether the number was real.
Is my mind really this scrambled? Why am I doing something so stupid…!
Flustered, she hung up and turned away.
“Th-then, excuse me!”
She had never been so embarrassed in her life.
She was supposed to be grieving for her sister—what was she doing feeling humiliation?
Why was she acting like someone who’d lost her mind?
Was this what people meant when they said shock made you lose grip on reality?
No. Absolutely not.
I need to send my sister off properly.
Slapping her cheeks, she hurried back to the funeral room.
Jihyuk watched the woman’s back as she ran off, hands shoved in his pockets.
The strange woman—no, the extortionist—entered his sister-in-law’s memorial room.
She entered wearing mourning clothes?
There’s no way she confused the rooms.
Did she know his sister-in-law?
Before he could think further, Choi Jun approached him.
“Director? Who are you staring at like that?”
“Oh. That extortionist from earlier.”
“Sir? Ah, the one who almost got into the accident?”
Jihyuk didn’t answer. He narrowed his eyes and studied her back.
Watching her take off her shoes and walk toward the altar, he muttered,
“That one.”
“Sir?”
“What’s her relationship with my sister-in-law?”
“I’ll find out.”
Secretary Choi bowed lightly and left to follow orders.
Jihyuk stayed where he was, peering into Su-young’s funeral room.
She had moved out of sight.
He shifted slightly, and there she was—sitting blankly in the mourner’s seat, staring at the portrait.
Her hair was tied haphazardly, and she was wearing dark mourning clothes, but her small face and delicate features still stood out.
Pale skin like powdered flour, a rounded forehead leading into a natural nose bridge, a softly indented philtrum and plump lips.
The softly rounded cheeks and gentle jawline gave her a somewhat cute impression, but she was far too pretty to be average.
If he had run into her at a social event, he might have considered spending the night with her.
But remembering how she had nearly caused trouble by losing her senses only irritated him.
Just then, she puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath. As if exhaling her frustration.
Her puffed-up cheeks reminded him of something.
Where had he seen that face before?
“When Su-young was little, she lost her parents and was adopted by her aunt’s family. She lived with a cousin her age.”
His sister-in-law was thirty.
But the woman in front of him didn’t look like that cousin. Then who was she?
Another relative?
Well, whatever.
His brother had said his sister-in-law was estranged from her family.
No need to get curious.
If he dug too deep and they became interested in their side instead, it would be a disaster.
Even a single year of cohabiting in a common-law relationship with his brother—who had been the eldest son of the Sehan Group and the executive managing finances—would tempt people to try extorting money.
That was why his sister-in-law never clung to his brother’s background and lived quietly.
Deciding he would no longer concern himself with her family, Jihyuk returned to his brother’s memorial room.
His father’s men, guarding from the center of the hallway to the memorial, bowed sharply to him.
Sehan had grown from a nationwide mercenary-type organization into a conglomerate with a holding-company structure in just ten years, but still retained the scent of its underworld roots.
Clicking his tongue, Jihyuk approached the altar. His father, Chairman Seo Jaewang, stood.
“Stay here. I’m going to stop by Wonjun’s house.”
His brother’s house? In the middle of the funeral?
Why?
Jaewang paused as his chief secretary hurriedly put down his shoes for him, and muttered as if talking to himself,
“Aigo, my poor boy… How am I supposed to face that brat… How…”
He wasn’t crying, but his voice was thick with sorrow.
Despite being a former gang boss, as a father, he hadn’t been a bad man.
That was why he hadn’t opposed it when his son said he had been living with a mysterious woman without registering their marriage.
And how much he adored the baby born six months ago to his son and daughter-in-law.
How much…
Suddenly, Jihyuk’s mind went blank.
“Aigo, my poor boy…”
As his father left in tears, something Jihyuk had forgotten resurfaced.
His brother and sister-in-law had a six-month-old baby.
He had a niece—or nephew.
He had a child in the family.
